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Here Is the Muse

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio
  • Posted at 1:33pm
  • 12 October 2007
  • by AndrewCollins-RT

When John Ford was dying, fellow director Howard Hawks would visit and they'd discuss "how tough it was to make a good western without John Wayne". The Duke proved a rock and lucky charm to both – he made over 20 pictures with Ford, and five with Hawks – and because of that remains perhaps Hollywood's most famous muse. Both directors made their best westerns with him – for Ford, Stagecoach and The Searchers; for Hawks, Red River and Rio Bravo.

In Greek mythology, the muses were nymphs who provided artistic inspiration – not quite the macho 6ft 4in figure of Wayne. Grace Kelly fits the bill more neatly – with her "snow princess" appeal, she intoxicated Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her three times. Woody Allen, something of a "muse-hound" himself, made eight films with then-girlfriend Diane Keaton, including Annie Hall and Manhattan, and 13 with his subsequent partner, Mia Farrow.

Robert De Niro, another manly muse, plans to make ten films with Martin Scorsese. Casino was number eight. In production is their ninth, the Mafia-themed Frankie Machine. Whatever alchemy arises from their union (and De Niro biographer John Baxter attributes their friendship to a shared social reserve and enthusiasm for "movie technique"), it's produced the likes of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and GoodFellas.

Such a relationship can’t be manufactured. Is Scorsese grooming Leonardo DiCaprio – The Aviator, Gangs of New York and The Departed – as his new De Niro? The problem is Leo declares himself "a fan", so I'm not sure the Greek gods would put money on that partnership being the new Wayne and Ford.

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